Since our last post regarding the Eddie Long scandal, a fourth man by the name of Spencer LeGrande, 22, has come forward. In response to the allegations, the bishop spoke in front of his congregation on Sunday (September 26) and here’s what he had to say:
“There have been allegations and attacks made on me. I have never in my life portrayed myself as a perfect man, but I am not the man that’s being portrayed on the television. That’s not me. That is not me. I’ve been accused. I’m under attack. I want you to know as I said earlier, I’m not a perfect man. But this thing, I’m going to fight. And I want you to know one other thing, I feel ike David against Goliath, but I got five rock and I haven’t thrown one yet.” [ SOURCE ]
You can view video of his speech/sermon here.
Don Lemon Opens Up About His Past
In light of the Eddie Bishop scandal, CNN’s Don Lemon interviewed three members of Eddie Long’s church New Birth on Saturday (September 25). In the mist of listening to the interviewees and their thoughts on the situation, Lemon openly admitted on national television that he was a victim of a pedophile. Afterwards, he responded to his Twitter followers:
“Thank you all for your kind words. I had no idea I’d say that on national tv. It just came out. Sadly, it’s the truth for so many young men.” [ SOURCE ]
Thats Really Sad and Painful!!!!!
Hmmm…I think those young people in the vid need to learn more about pedophiles. I’m not saying the Bishop did it, but I think their arguments in regard to the Bishop not being a plausible pedophile are a bit ignorant.
All this needs is prayer ,for both sides. No judegments or condemnation just prayer and Gods mercy and grace for each everyone involved
I hope this isn’t true, but we’ll see how it plays out.
Eddie Long will rot in hell if this is true.
i hate when ppl are in denial .. who the hell ‘looks’ like a pedophile .. there is no ‘look’ because they come in all shapes, sizes and colors … the one that abused me when i was a child was a popular young black guy on the swim and wrestling teams who had a girlfriend .. props to don lemon for the admission, it sho’ ain’t easy .. i didnt tell for 15 years and i’m a female, its even harder for males .. Long and his s-curl toupee are gonna burn in hell and anyone who supports him is just as guilty .. jesus did not condone sin, he condemned sin!!
That Jheri Curl toupee is not helping his case.
Fake ass Bishop long just like that fake ass mop on the top of his head, I’m so tired of these heads of state and church and their hypocrisy. Hating on “the lord” and your me because I want to love another man freely while you hide behind the lord and your bully pulpit., fake ass married preachers, supposed to be upholding the word of God
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HE DID IT!! The girl said that Bishop does a lot for the community and young kids. Pedophiles live a lie and they try to portray a great image to everyone around them. Also keep in mind that pedophiles find jobs where they are working close to kids like priest, pediatricians, daycare workers, teachers, the janitor at Chucke Cheeses. And this is not a joke. People don’t want to ever touch on the subject of pedophiles because it’s a touchy matter. We need to fight back and protect our children from these creeps!! Protect your children they need you!!
How hypocritical of him to preach against homosexuality when the whole time, he was bangin’ those little boys. Do better, Bishop, do better!
The sad thing is that this is something that occurs on a regular basis and people just turn a blind eye too it. America’s anti-gay attitude/Homophobia just makes it worse, a child/teen isn’t gonna admit they’ve been with another guy especially if the person is older and has any sort of authoritative role…I know when I was around 15 16 years old, older black guys would always try to get me to come “chill” with them, most of which did express their true intents…The thing that gets me is people who just say oh he didn’t do it, or ones thinking he does this he does that he mentors young men he doesn’t show any signs of being a pedophile, that gives him more access to young guys and people would trust him to be alone with them. When their is a allegation of any type of molestation or statutory rape, it needs to be addressed and handled immediately a childs well being is more important than a persons reputation/pride. No offense to Christians who actually have common sense, but to you others get your head out the bible and open your eyes to reality, pastors priest and bishops are humans like everyone else and are capable of the same “evils” as any other given person.
That girl shouldn’t have said anything.
I’m not really saying Long is guilty but just because he does stuff in the community and what not that doesn’t mean anything. Lol @ “he doesn’t look like a pedophile” – like pedophiles have a certain look.
I co-sign with #2
…..you took the words right out of my mouth.
I bet these sick homosexual pedophiles love hiding in these churches, and being involved in these youth outreach programs. Smh, these young boys are prime for the picking…I can’t wait until that f*ggot TD Jakes is outed
As for Bishop Long, I do believe that those boys were less than David and he was Goliath, but now these victims are about to stand on each other’s shoulders and slay that giant!
Wishing many blessing to Don Lemon. The pure ignorance and denial of the people he was interviewing probably struck a chord with him as someone who’s been through it. I hope he has gotten some counseling about his experiences, though the hurt will never fully go away. God bless.
I always knew this dude was a sweety booty. He fooled all the unsuspecting bible thumpers ready to give up their check for the “Lawd” AKA bishop Pedo Long’s pockets.
So sad… That’s all I can say.
I will wait to see how everything goes with the trials before I make any type of judgement. If Bishop Long is responsible for this then he deserves whatever will come to him and will have to pay an ultimate price when he gets to the gates and they don’t open for him…If these accusations are proven to be true then I will be disgusted in all of his actions and pray for the members of his church that have to deal with it. In this day and age where the economy is down and people are desperate for money they will say and do whatever (ie:the kids who accused Michael Jackson, then came out 1 by 1 saying they lied for the money years later)….so I put nothing past anyone and will not believe either side of this story until the facts come out and there is proof…Muscle shirts and s-curls is no proof a man is gay or a pedophile and a man standing behind a pulpit doesn’t mean he don’t have skeletons…Time and facts will tell who is actually telling truth.
well said Honest Critic, and # 12 C well said
#2….I concur.
I mean it’s pretty obvious that something inappropriate went on. Double the number of people have come forward since the original allegations. What disturbs me the most is that Long failed to address the situation and own up to his involvement. The fact that he side-stepped it altogether and focused on the media making him to be this monster just shows that he’s not being completely honest about it. I really feel for those young people on CNN, SMH truly.
This shouldn’t be compared to the Michael Jackson accusations because MJ always adamantly denied it where as Eddie Long doesn’t and these aren’t influential 10-12 yr olders that can be manipulated into lying these are young men.
That whole situation is unfortunate. I hope justice is served.
Big ups to Don Lemon for sharing that. Gay black men need more role models like him. More people need to come forward about this kind of thing so people can get help and we can break the cycle of sexual and domestic abuse.
Wow…. just wow!
#23- This can compare exactly to MJ…So what if MJ kept denying it…he also gave huge settlements because he no longer wanted to go to court and continuously be judged by the public…That in turn made more people skeptical of why he didn’t continue to fight the accusations, but instead paid for them to go away. People have different attorneys which tell them to do different things…Perhaps Bishop Long attorney told him to not say anything specific yet until they actually go to court and he puts forth a plea. Any any age can be manipulated to lie and some ages choose to lie…Nobody knows who is lieing and who is telling the truth besides Bishop Long, the four young men, and God. Everything else is a ton of assumption given from the media to feed on what people don’t know.
I see men in the gym all the time with muscle shirts n stuff- now all of a sudden the Bishop is automatically gay because of 2 pictures of him in workout gear.
Men who are missing hair most likely wear toupees when they are embarrassed by it…some wear straight and some wear an s-curl…so now everyone knew Bishop Long was gay cause of a curly toupee?..perhaps it matched his hair texture or would people rather he permed his hair straight?
This is why society is screwed up now…everyone stuck on stereotyping and that leads to hatred amongst anyone, black ppl, gay, straight, christians, etc. Nobody has any facts to pass judgement on Bishop Long or the four young men involved. There has been no real evidence presented yet and there won’t be until the actual hearing takes place.
I hope this isn’t true. But I don’t believe those 4 young men would all conspire to make up a lie like this. I think they all are comming one after the other because they feel impowered to do so because they are not alone in proving their accusations. When one victim stands up, the other scared or embarressed ones will follow. All of these types of stories have really made me be more watchful over my children. I have explained to them what inappropriate talk and touching is. I have also talked to them about what a peodophile will say to them and how they will try and threaten them if they tell. We have to educate our children about this type of thing and let them know they can tell us as parents right away, not 10 or 15 years later. My parents never had talks like this with me. I don’t trust anyone anymore. No sleepovers for my kids. My son want to join the boy scouts, I’m a little aprehensive about that. Hope I don’t build a bubble around them and make them resent me, but if something happened to either one of them I would be in jail for murder.
oh wow, honest critic u are an idiot
Why does he just take an interest in young boys/men? Why not try to help all youth? Both men & women? Do they not see this as a red flag too?
Don Lemon was looking weirder to me. He lost alot of weight since he was first put on CNN.
Now it is clear that Eddie Long’s church is full of homosexuals, I mean there are two reps sitting on the couch defending him, as well as most (black) churches, ie Rev. Wrights church too. However, I do not believe pedophilia was into play here. I believe these 4 young men accusing him are homosexual and began a consensual relationship with him & seen him as a sugar daddy type. They were 17 when it started.
I am baffled that Eddie Long is married & did not step down & had his cheerleaders roar for him when he basically said he did it. He did not deny any of the allegations and just needs to come out as a gay man. He should be ashamed of himself & although it may not be pedophilia, bc who knows what boys younger than 17 are afraid of speaking out, Eddie should outed & removed as the leader of the church forever. Black people are so gullible.
CHRIS STOKES DIDNT LOOK LIKE A PEDOPHILE NOR DID JAMES CLEVLAND, BUT THEY WERE.. PEOPLE NEED TO STOP PUTTING THIER FAITH IN MAN AND KEEP GOD FIRST! .. NOT SAYING HE’S GUILTY B-CUZ I DONT KNOW AND WILL RESERVE MY JUDGEMENT FOR LATER!
@ Honest Critic, I agree with what youre saying. When I first started reading this story I was like I am not going to pass any judgements on this man because after seeing how Michael Jackson was lied on and framed and then also seeing how the media just took a bunch of lies and ran off and painted this picture of Michael like he was a pedophile cause he wore this and he walked like that and he lived at a place they deemed silly just makes me realize that I as a person have a responsibility and obligation to myself to seek out the truth cause the media sure is not going to give it to you. Now what I am not saying is that the Bishop is not guilty, but what I am saying is that I will wait for the FACTS to come out and if that indeed proves that he is guilty of what those young men have accused him off, then he gets everything that he deserves. But what I am saying is that I will wait for his trial and the facts from that trial to help determine what is really going on and then I will know what type of man he really is. Molestation is in no way funny or a joke, and ever since I seen what was done to Michael and how he was blackmailed and railroaded by the media even though like Honest Critic was saying all those people came out one by one and said how they lied and the media knew this cause they were the first ones sitting in court listening to it all unfold, I will never allow them to tell me what is true or not. The truth will come to the light and we will all see it.
NEWS FLASH @ honest critic
Most of those guys in the gym ARE gay…it’s a well known fact that the gym is a meat market for gay men.
I’m curious to know this….if they didn’t all know each other, how did they ALL come in contact with the same attorney at the same time? I could see if it were just the first two, but they’re claiming that the third and fourth guy didn’t really know each other or the first two. Also, it’s strange that they all have pretty much the same stories. So…he got all of them the same exact way? I don’t know what to believe, but I know that the first two posting youtube videos of themselves while in high school–sending messages out to “all the ladies” didn’t seem withdrawn or show signs of someone who’d been abused. They seemed really arrogant and outgoing….typical hungry teenagers.
I agree that the pictures are concerning, but we don’t really know where the pics came from. The first two broke into eddie long’s office back in the summer and stole ipads, a cellphone, and who knows what else….that’s where people typically save their pictures…imjustsaying
This is the issue that I have with his church members…many of them have become angry at the public for automatically demonizing him and choosing a side (quoting scripture and telling folks not to judge), yet they’ve done the same thing with the “Bishop.” Many of them have chosen to be 100% behind the Bishop because of an image he’s been perpetuating. Now, I’m not saying he’s guilty (though I do have an inkling that he is, sorry), but his members worship him more than they worship God, and many of them are blinded by this fact. He’s a human being, meaning he can fall prey like any other human being. Many of us have an issue with him because he’s a staunch anti-gay protester. And if these allegations are true, that makes him not only a liar but a hypocrite.
These young folks on CNN need to spend less time in the church worshiping this man and more time in the real world, because it’s INCREDIBLY ignorant to think that a pedophile has a certain look. Pedophiles and rapists come in all shapes, colors, and sizes, so to think that he doesn’t look like one is beyond ignorant. What’s making me feel that he’s guilty is not only the fact that 4 young men have come out with the exact same story, but the fact that during the “Bishops” address he skirted around the issue the entire time. Usually when a person feels they are not guilty of something, they proclaim their innocence. He didn’t…he simply said he’ll fight it…what does that mean? You’ll fight this allegation by paying them ‘silence’ money, you’ll fight more info from being leaked, what is it that you’ll fight? This whole thing is just a bunch of sad mess…and there is something that just ain’t right.
@29 Yes Black people are very gullible especially when it comes to religion.
@Latin-Chile please! @Honest Critic- Thank you. MJ was a textbook pedophile. A junior high textbook. On the other hand Bishop Wrong is a high school textbook pedophile. LOL Some of y’all Negroes need to take the blinders off and grow a brain. Think for yourselves! Try it. You’ll like it. It’s really fun!
Folks stop saying it’s not pedophilia because these guys were past the age of consent in Georgia. He started the grooming process when these kids were 14 or 15. He’ a very cunning predator. He didn’t touch them until they reached the age of consent, just for this reason. He’s just a greasy devil in ugly suits.
Again just because someone does alot for the community and does not look like a pedophile doesn’t mean they aren’t. Bishop’s aren’t perfect ppl so never doubt their faults and mistakes. We had many priests and other religious figures in the past found out to be guilty for pedophile acts what makes Bishop so different?? cuz he’s black? Now I don’t know if he did or didn’t molest these men but I do know that God knows and the truth will come out to the light, and I sure wont be surprised either..
@HONEST CRITIC
Um where did you hear Michael Jackson’s accusers came forward? I never heard of that. You’d think it would be on the news or Jermaine and La Toya would’ve spoke about it. I don’t remember that maybe I missed it.
But anyways they are so ignorant with their reasons as to why he is a pedophile. “he looks like a pedophile” REALLY people? That’s exactly how a lot of people get away with this mess. Because these dumb ass people are not educated enough to accuse somebody. You can tell what he did in all the details you want but if you are not making much sense with your facts and saying he just looked like a pedophile, nobody is going to take you seriously. Yes I believe Eddie Long did this but if they were to go in court saying he looks like one, that’s not going to be enough for me to say he’s guilty.
“All this needs is prayer ,for both sides. No judegments or condemnation just prayer and Gods mercy and grace for each everyone involved”
Don’t for get justice. I really hope this isn’t true…..I hope the allegations for Michael Jackson isn’t true either. But just because they’ve made an positive impact in the world doesn’t mean the don’t have their dirty little….in some case Huge secrets. I’ll pray for the families on both sides.
WELL… WHATS DONE IN THE DARK WILL COME TO THE LIGHT. IM NOT SAYING THAT I THINK THAT THE BISHOP DID IT OR TAT THESE YOUNG MEN ARE LIARS ; ALL IM SAYING IS THAT THE TRUTH WILL PREVAIL.
all i have to say is if there are other victims by him please come out and speak up, this is the only way we can learn as society and pass tougher laws against these sick minded individuals…SPEAK OUT!
You will know people by the fruits they bear. You don’t have to know a person to know their spirit and Eddie has ALWAYS seemed a lil shady to me. Never let your goodness be evil spoken of but I guess its too late. Have your way Lord!
IF YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE LAW YOU KNOW THAT ONCE YOU ARE REPRESENTED BY AN ATTORNEY YOU CANNOT GO AROUND AND SAY WHAT YOU WANT TO SAY. YOU ARE TOLD WHAT TO SAY BY YOUR ATTORNEY. THE OTHER SIDE IS LISTENING TO EVERYTHING YOU SAY AND WILL USE IT AGAINST YOU IN COURT. HE WAS VERY VAGUE, AND NO HE WAS NOT GOING TO COME OUT AND SAY ANYTHING BECAUSE HIS LAWYERS HAVE ADVISED HIM AGAINST DOING SO. YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND HOW THE LAW WORKS. HE DID IT RIGHT. LET THE COURT’S DETERMINE HIS GUILT OR IF HE IS INNOCENT, NOT THE COURT OF PUBLIC OPINION AND NOT A CHURCH CONGREGATION AND CERTAINLY NOT CNN OR ITS STAFF. DON LEMON WAS ALWAYS SHAKY TO ME AND HE JUST PULLED AN OPRAH WITH THIS NEWEST CONFESSION. WE DID NOT NEED TO HEAR THAT FROM HIM. THIS NEWS STORY IS NOT ABOUT HIM.
@Shellbee Not everything is black and white and this is said out of love but for the record you don’t know anyone personally in this situation and neither do I but I do know what God word says and its says not for us to judge and that we shouldn’t put our confidence in the flesh but to soley keep all our expectations in Him (God). I didn’t say I didn’t htink he was guilty but then I didn’t say I do think he’s guilty agian I dond’t know this man or these people but I do have an opinion. All this is is a harsh reminder to everyone that these people are just that PEOPLE, humans that mess up and fall short of Gods glory everyday. They’re aren’t God and the sad thing is that if he is guilty there will be many ‘christians’ who may even leave the faith because as @NeoSoulstress88 acknowledged, they see these PEOPLE as God, they don’t know God for themselves but rely on what comes out of the pastors mouth at the pulpit every sunday. We are encouraged to pray for one another and what is done in the dar will mst definately be revealed in the light but also remember that the same amount of mercy we show to others will be whats shown to you. If he is guilty God says ‘Vengence is mine I will repay’ and if those young men are lying they’ll get whats coming to them too.
sorry about messed up words typing fast and at work
I CAN SEE IF IT WAS ONE MAN BUT FOR FOUR MEN, THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH THAT PICTURE!
@ SHELLBEE, what do you mean MJ was a textbook pedophile, a junior high text book? I dont know what you mean so I cant comment on it even though I want to cause I may be wrong, let me know… Now to Sexxii and Simplylovely, TRUSR ME, if you ever read some of the manuscripts, not even all, just some of the testimony that came from the accusers mother, the accusers sister and the accusser himself, you will immediately realize this man has been lied on. And I dont mean lied, I mean liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeddddddddddddd on. Have you ever been in a situation yourself, or while listening to someone speak & just get the gut feeling that something aint right. Well check those manuscripts out, and youll know what I’m talking about. Its a disgrace and its disgusting what he, MICHAEL went through. He was the victim and his only crime was being too nice, I promise you.
You will see, before you even get to the FBI investigation which vindicated Michael without ANY doubts, that this case becomes more of a thing of Michael being violated and harmed, not the other way around. I thought to myself, How in the hell did Michael sit there in court everyday like a civilized human being after being lied on like that, after I read through those manuscripts. I cried, I got angry, and then I just prayed because I was disgusted with that liar sneaky racist of a prosecutor and I felt Mikes pain, its no way in the world you will not feel it when you read it. You will see, I promise you if you ever read them. You wont believe what youre reading, and how deep and far that man Thomas Sneddon went to lock Michael up for something he did not do. He knew it the Media knew it and that women who made her children lie knew it, so why did this have to happen.
That prosecutor was so hellbent on convicting Michael that while he had the accuser on the stand, he handed him a magazine which he had illegally confiscated from Michaels Ranch which had Michaels fingerprints on it ofcourse because it was his, so this dirtbag then hands the book to the accusser -in front of everyone in the court mind you- and asks him if that was indeed the same magazine that the young man had said that he and Michael were looking through on the day that Michael supposedly molested him. Now check this, that magazine had not even been printed and shipped out at the time in which the accuser claimed he was there and read it with Michael. Not only had that magazine not even been printed yet, but Michael wasnt even in the country on the day the accuser and his mother tried to claim Michael was their and did do this. But heres the best part, not only did that mean that the accusser had been caught in a big lie, but now what the hell was the prosecutor trying to do by giving this boy this book which Michael did own and touch but he knew that that boy had never touched that book before in his life cause at the time that that book did exist at NeverLand Ranch, the accuser and his family had been long gone and far away from the Ranch. He tried to cement the fact that the accuser was their at that time with Michael by having him TOUCH THAT BOOK. The prosecutor, in court, in front of everyone tryed to set Michael up by having that boy touch that book which like I said came out almost a year after that family had left. The prosecutor tried to play if off after the court room went crazy and apologized and said he would throw that out of court. But everyone else was like hell no, he just falsified evidence like right infront of a judge, throw his ass in jail, and hes a prosecutor. A well seasoned old behind prosecutor, he knew exactly what he was doing and he got caught, And thats just the tip of the iceberg. Its feels like youre in the twilight zone while reading that garbage.
Like I said what you will quickly and easily see is that Michael was always innocent and was setup and framed, like youll see that real quick, what will hurt is that youll see how he was lied on, slandered and attacked by the media relentlessly to no end, and also how he was racially discriminated againgst like when they took him to jail in cuffs and locked him in a bathroom with doo doo on the walls and would not let him out for a whole hour, and how he said they would say to him, ” How does that shit smell in their”, and he said he would just say its OK”, cause he just wanted them to let him out. How they took pictures of his penis, and how they lied and stole his stuff from him. All this from lies, and not to mention how many say and actually know that Sony and Tommy Matolla wanted his catalogue which in it was the Beatles catalogue which is still worth more that a billion doallars, as well as the Little Richard Catalague he owns and Sly and the Family Stones. His own catalogue is worth more than a billion itself also. And while alot of folks were focusing on what the media was saying, and the prosecutor was lying about cause his racist tale knew Michael was innocent, their was ALOT of BIG people making BIG moves to wrap Michael up and take everything he had worked for, all for the money. GREED is what all this was about, check it out, you wont believe what you are reading, I know.
God Bless Micheals soul, for all he gave and for all he went through to bring forward the very gifts that you sent him here to share with the world. There will never be another…
@QW
Damn…is it that serious?
The question would have posed to the interviewer is what is the difference between what he said a pedophile does and what gay people do or people in general? Do not men wine and dine a woman to get into her pants? Does a gay man assure a “straight” man that he isn’t gay if they have sex one to a few times? So what Don is describing has nothing to do with being a pedophile as much as the tactics of human to have sex. Also how does he know that the people didn’t know each other? Because they said so? There is a such thing called a lie. Anybody know about that?
Black people need to stop covering up for pedophiles such as these! It happens in every ethnic group and I truly believe this dude DID commit these acts. He should be in prison right now! I hate when people go on national television to back their pastor up for something they know little about completely! Folks need to keep it real! You know the deal!